Displaying the accessibility of hyperlinked files

ABSTRACT

The accessibility of a hyperlinked files is displayed. A hyperlink that references a resource is extracted from a target file. An attempt to acquire the resource is made by performing a first authentication operation. A first object is received in response to performing the authentication operation. A second object is acquired by performing a second authentication operation using pre-determined authentication information. The first object and the second object are compared to determine if the first object is the same as the second object. Information indicating the accessibility of the resource is presented via a display apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to a technique for displaying ahyperlinked file, and, more particularly, to techniques for displayingthe accessibility of a link destination of a hyperlink set to a file.

A computer displaying a hyperlinked file, such as an HTML file, canaccess an object at a link destination of the hyperlink on the basis ofnetwork position information such as a uniform resource locator (URL)indicated by the hyperlink. However, in the case where the computer doesnot have the right of access to the object at the link destination, evenif the computer requests to access the object, the computer cannotacquire, open, or play back the object.

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a method fordisplaying the accessibility of a hyperlinked file is provided. Themethod includes extracting, by one or more computer processors, ahyperlink from a target file, wherein the hyperlink references aresource; attempting to acquire, by one or more computer processors, theresource by performing a first authentication operation and, inresponse, receiving a first object; acquiring, by one or more computerprocessors, a second object by performing a second authenticationoperation using pre-determined authentication information; comparing, byone or more computer processors, the first object and the second objectto determine if the first object is the same as the second object; andpresenting, by one or more computer processors, via a display apparatus,information indicating the accessibility of the resource, wherein theinformation is based, at least in part, on the comparison between thefirst object and the second object and further based, at least in part,on the target file.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a computerprogram product for displaying the accessibility of a hyperlinked fileis provided. The computer program product comprises a computer readablestorage medium and program instructions stored on the computer readablestorage medium. The program instructions include program instructions toextract a hyperlink from a target file, wherein the hyperlink referencesa resource; program instructions to attempt to acquire the resource byperforming a first authentication operation and, in response, receive afirst object; program instructions to acquire a second object byperforming a second authentication operation using pre-determinedauthentication information; program instructions to compare the firstobject and the second object to determine if the first object is thesame as the second object; and program instructions to present, via adisplay apparatus, information indicating the accessibility of theresource, wherein the information is based, at least in part, on thecomparison between the first object and the second object and furtherbased, at least in part, on the target file.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a computersystem for displaying the accessibility of a hyperlinked file isprovided. The computer system includes one or more computer processors,one or more computer readable storage media, and program instructionsstored on the computer readable storage media for execution by at leastone of the one or more processors. The program instructions includeprogram instructions to extract a hyperlink from a target file, whereinthe hyperlink references a resource; program instructions to attempt toacquire the resource by performing a first authentication operation and,in response, receive a first object; program instructions to acquire asecond object by performing a second authentication operation usingpre-determined authentication information; program instructions tocompare the first object and the second object to determine if the firstobject is the same as the second object; and program instructions topresent, via a display apparatus, information indicating theaccessibility of the resource, wherein the information is based, atleast in part, on the comparison between the first object and the secondobject and further based, at least in part, on the target file.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a filedisplaying apparatus to which the embodiment of the present disclosureis applied, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of anauthentication information database, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a file on whichinformation on the accessibility of an object at a link destination isdisplayed, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating another display example of the file onwhich the information on the accessibility of the object at the linkdestination is displayed, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of an accessibilitydetermining process performed by the file displaying apparatus, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of an authentication screenretrieving process performed by an authentication screen retrievingunit, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a source code of theobject, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the object that isbased on the source code illustrated in FIG. 7 and includes anauthentication screen, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of an access trial processperformed by an accessibility determining unit, in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a process performed in thecase where authentication information is automatically registered in theauthentication information database in response to an authenticationoperation by a user, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a preferable hardware configurationexample for configuring the file displaying apparatus, in accordancewith an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various techniques exist to determine whether or not a user has theright of access to an object at a link destination and notify the userof whether or not the access thereto is possible. One example of such atechnique is to examine whether or not a page indicated by a linkexisting on a page actually exists. If the indicated page actuallyexists, an acquisition request for the page is actually made on thebasis of user information prepared in advance, whereby it is determinedwhether or not the user has the right of access to the page. Then, onthe basis of these examination result and determination result, it isdetermined whether or not the user can refer to the page at the linkdestination. According to the determination result, a display mode ofthe link is determined. Another example of a technique is to determinewhether or not an object at a link destination falls under a restrictiontarget with reference to access restriction information prepared inadvance.

Embodiments of the present disclosure recognize that, in general, it isdifficult to determine the response(s) that indicate that a hyperlinkedfile is accessible by making an access request using information that isprepared in advance and is necessary for the access. For example, in thecase where the returned object content changes for each access to theobject at the link destination and thus cannot be identified, it isdifficult to determine whether the acquired object is a correct responseresult for the access request or an object that is returned as a resultof denied access.

Embodiments of the present disclosure also recognize that, in the caseof preparing access restriction information in advance, it is necessaryto update the access restriction information in accordance with a changein specifications of the access destination and the like, and hencemanagement is therefore complicated.

Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a techniquefor displaying the accessibility of a link destination of a hyperlinkset to a file.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure are describedin detail with reference to the attached drawings.

System Configuration:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a filedisplaying apparatus, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. A file displaying apparatus 100 illustrated in FIG. 1includes a transmitting and receiving unit 110 and a file acquiring unit120 for acquiring a file to be processed. The file displaying apparatus100 further includes a link extracting unit 130, an authenticationscreen retrieving unit 140 and an accessibility determining unit 150 forprocessing a hyperlink included in the acquired file. The filedisplaying apparatus 100 further includes an authentication informationDB 160 and an error screen storing unit 170 for holding information usedto process the hyperlink. The file displaying apparatus 100 furtherincludes a display controlling unit 180 and a display unit 190 fordisplaying the file. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the file displayingapparatus 100 is connected to a network such as the Internet.

The transmitting and receiving unit 110 is a network interface foraccessing the network. Acquisition requests for a file to be displayedor display target file and an object at a link destination aretransmitted through the transmitting and receiving unit 110, and thefile and the object returned as a response to the acquisition requestsare received therethrough.

The file acquiring unit 120 generates the acquisition request for thefile, and transmits the acquisition request to a site (such as a serveron the network) on which the acquisition target file exists, through thetransmitting and receiving unit 110. Then, the file acquiring unit 120receives the file returned as a response to the acquisition request.Such file acquisition is performed by the file acquiring unit 120 in thecase where a user of the file displaying apparatus 100 inputs a commandfor acquiring the file. In this case, the acquired file is transmittedto the display controlling unit 180, and is displayed on the displayunit 190 by the display controlling unit 180.

Moreover, in some embodiments, file acquisition is performed by the fileacquiring unit 120 also in the case where link information is extractedby the link extracting unit 130 as described later or in the case whereauthentication information is transmitted from an authentication screenby the accessibility determining unit 150 and where a response screen isacquired. In these cases, the acquired file is not displayed on thedisplay unit 190 but processed in the background.

The link extracting unit 130 determines whether or not a hyperlink isset to the display target file acquired by the file acquiring unit 120.If the hyperlink is set thereto, the link extracting unit 130 extractslink information of the hyperlink. Appropriate techniques can be used todetermine whether or not the hyperlink is set thereto and extract thelink information. For example, in the case where the display target fileis an HTML file, the link extracting unit 130 may detect a portion inwhich a URL is specified in the href attribute of an a element (anchorelement), and may extract the specified URL. As described above, if thelink information is extracted by the link extracting unit 130, the fileacquiring unit 120 acquires the file of the object at the linkdestination using the extracted link information.

In some embodiments, examples of the timing at which the link extractingprocess is performed by the link extracting unit 130 include: when a newscreen is displayed on the display unit 190 on the basis of the fileacquired by the file acquiring unit 120; and when a mouse pointer isplaced (hovered) over the position at which a hyperlink is set on thescreen displayed on the display unit 190. Moreover, in the case wherethe file acquired by the file acquiring unit 120 is an e-mail message,upon reception of the e-mail message, the link extracting unit 130 mayextract a hyperlink included in the received message. Moreover, for thesame hyperlink, the link extracting unit 130 may extract only the onefor which predetermined days and hours or longer have elapsed from thelast extraction thereof.

The authentication screen retrieving unit 140 determines whether or notan authentication screen exists in the object at the link destinationthat is acquired on the basis of the link information extracted by thelink extracting unit 130. Specifically, the authentication screenretrieving unit 140 first examines whether or not an input/transmissionform exists in the object at the link destination. Then, if theinput/transmission form exists, the authentication screen retrievingunit 140 determines whether or not the form is for authentication, onthe basis of the contents of inputs requested by the form. The detail ofthe process performed by the authentication screen retrieving unit 140is described later.

The accessibility determining unit 150 performs an operation forauthentication (i.e., an authentication operation) on an object that isdetermined by the authentication screen retrieving unit 140 to includethe authentication screen, and determines whether or not an object at alink destination from the authentication screen can be accessed. In someembodiments, the accessibility determining unit 150 performs in advancean authentication operation that always denies the access, on theauthentication screen, and acquires in advance an object (error screen)that is returned from the site at the link destination in the case wherethe access is denied (authentication failure). Then, the accessibilitydetermining unit 150 performs a proper authentication operation foraccessing the object at the link destination, and compares an objectreturned from the site at the link destination with the error screenacquired in advance. Then, if the object acquired in the properauthentication operation is the same as the error screen, theaccessibility determining unit 150 determines that the access is denied.If the object acquired in the proper authentication operation isdifferent from the error screen, the accessibility determining unit 150determines that the access is permitted. Here, the object acquired inthe proper authentication operation may be compared with the errorscreen by comparing respective pieces of data of the acquired objects orby comparing an image (such as a screen shot) when the object acquiredin the proper authentication operation is displayed on the display unit190, with an image of the error screen. In the case of comparing theimages, for example, respective display images of the objects aregenerated by the display controlling unit 180, and it can be determinedwhether or not the generated images are the same as each other, using anexisting image analysis technique. The detail of the process performedby the accessibility determining unit 150 is described hereafter.

The authentication information DB 160 is a database (i.e., andauthentication information storing unit) for storing information forauthentication (i.e., authentication information) on the object at thelink destination. Specifically, the authentication information DB 160stores therein network position information (for example, a URL) on anobject on the network and authentication information (for example, an IDand a password) required to access the object in association with eachother. The accessibility determining unit 150 performs an authenticationoperation for the site at the link destination using the authenticationinformation stored in the authentication information DB 160.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of theauthentication information DB 160, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. In the example illustrated in FIG. 2, the URL ofa link destination, the ID and the password for authentication, and thedate and time (written as “DETERMINATION DATE AND TIME” in FIG. 2) atwhich the accessibility is last determined using the ID and the passwordare stored in each record in association with each other.

The error screen storing unit 170 stores therein the error screenacquired by performing, by the accessibility determining unit 150, theauthentication operation that denies the access. The accessibilitydetermining unit 150 determines whether or not the access is permittedby comparing the object that is returned from the site at the linkdestination as a response to the authentication operation performedusing the authentication information read out of the authenticationinformation DB 160, with the error screen stored in the error screenstoring unit 170.

The display controlling unit 180 displays the object based on thedisplay target file acquired by the file acquiring unit 120, on thedisplay unit 190. Moreover, the display controlling unit 180 displaysinformation indicating whether or not the object at the link destinationof the hyperlink set to the file displayed on the display unit 190 canbe accessed, in accordance with the determination result given by theaccessibility determining unit 150. The display unit 190 may beimplemented by a liquid crystal display device or the like.

Example of Display Control Based on Determination of Accessibility:

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are diagrams each illustrating a display example of afile on which the information on the accessibility of an object at alink destination is displayed, in accordance with embodiments of thepresent disclosure. Description is given here of an example in which adisplay image 191 based on a document file is displayed as a displaytarget file. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, with reference to thedisplay image 191 based on the document file as the display target, twohyperlinks 192 a and 192 b (in FIG. 3, URL portions surrounded by brokenlines) are set to the document file. The accessibility determining unit150 determines that access is impossible for the hyperlink 192 a of thetwo hyperlinks and that access is possible for the hyperlink 192 b ofthe two hyperlinks. Accordingly, in the example illustrated in FIG. 3, amessage to the effect that access is impossible (the user does not havethe right of access) is displayed for the hyperlink 192 a, using aballoon object 193 a. Moreover, a message to the effect that access ispossible (the user has the right of access) is displayed for thehyperlink 192 b, using a balloon object 193 b.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, the determination results of theaccessibility are respectively indicated by display modes of thehyperlinks 192 a and 192 b, instead of displaying the messages. In theexample illustrated in FIG. 4, the URL of the hyperlink 192 a for whichthe object at the link destination cannot be accessed (the user does nothave the right of access thereto) is covered by a hatched and/or shadedportion 194 a. On the other hand, the URL of the hyperlink 192 b forwhich the object at the link destination can be accessed (the user hasthe right of access thereto) is surrounded by a frame line 194 b.

As described above, in some embodiments, the information indicatingwhether or not the object at the link destination of each hyperlink (inthe example illustrated in FIG. 3, the hyperlinks 192 a and 192 b) setto the display target object can be accessed is displayed on the displayimage 191 on the display unit 190. Accordingly, once the display image191 is displayed (before the user of the file displaying apparatus 100performs a selection operation for requesting to access the object atthe link destination of the hyperlink), the user can recognize whetheror not the object at the link destination can be accessed. Note that thedisplay methods concerning the accessibility illustrated in FIG. 3 andFIG. 4 are given as mere examples. According to various embodiments,when an object such as a document including a hyperlink is displayed onthe display unit 190, if it is possible to recognize whether or not anobject at a link destination of the hyperlink included in the displayedobject can be accessed, any display method can be adopted to display thedetermination result of the accessibility determining unit 150. Thetechnique for displaying the determination result of the accessibilitydetermining unit 150 is not limited to the display methods illustratedin FIG. 3 and FIG. 4.

Accessibility Determining Process:

Next, an accessibility determining process performed by the filedisplaying apparatus 100 is discussed, in accordance with an embodimentof the present disclosure. In the case where a hyperlink is set to adisplay target file acquired to be displayed on the display unit 190,the file displaying apparatus 100 performs, in the background, a processof determining whether or not an object at a link destination of thehyperlink can be accessed. Then, as described with reference to FIG. 3and FIG. 4, the file displaying apparatus 100 displays determinationresults on the display image of the file displayed on the display unit190.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of the accessibilitydetermining process performed by the file displaying apparatus 100, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustratedin FIG. 5, first, the link extracting unit 130 extracts a hyperlinkincluded in a display target file at a present timing such as the timingof acquisition of the display target file (Step 501). Then, the fileacquiring unit 120 makes an access request to a site at a linkdestination of the hyperlink extracted by the link extracting unit 130,and acquires an object at the link destination (Step 502).

Then, the authentication screen retrieving unit 140 performs anauthentication screen retrieving process of examining whether or not theobject acquired in Step 502 includes an authentication screen (Step503). The detail of the authentication screen retrieving process isdescribed hereafter.

As a result of the authentication screen retrieving process performed bythe authentication screen retrieving unit 140, if it is determined thatthe object acquired in Step 502 does not include the authenticationscreen (No in Step 504), the display controlling unit 180 displaysinformation indicating that the user has the right of access to theobject at the link destination of the hyperlink included in the displaytarget file, onto the display image based on the display target filedisplayed on the display unit 190 (Step 510). This is because the usercan access the object at the link destination of the hyperlink extractedin Step 501, without being required to perform an authenticationoperation.

As a result of the authentication screen retrieving process performed bythe authentication screen retrieving unit 140, if it is determined thatthe object acquired in Step 502 includes the authentication screen (Yesin Step 504), the accessibility determining unit 150 then performs anauthentication operation so as to fail the authentication, and acquiresan error screen (a screen indicating an authentication failure) returnedfrom the site at the link destination (Step 505). Here, theauthentication operation that results in the authentication failure isperformed by, for example: leaving input information (such as an ID anda password inputted for the authentication) blank; or inputting anirrelevant character string that does not fall under the ID and thepassword or a character string including characters that are notpermitted to be used as authentication information. The error screenacquired in Step 505 is stored into the error screen storing unit 170.

Then, the accessibility determining unit 150 performs an access trialprocess of: performing an authentication operation on the authenticationscreen acquired in Step 502, using the authentication information storedin the authentication information DB 160; and trying to access theobject at the link destination of the hyperlink extracted in Step 501(Step 506). The detail of the access trial process is describedhereafter. Through the access trial process, the file acquiring unit 120acquires an object as a response to the access request, from the site atthe link destination (Step 507).

Then, the accessibility determining unit 150 generates a response screenbased on the object acquired in Step 507 (a screen when the acquiredobject is displayed on the display unit 190), and compares the responsescreen with the error screen acquired in Step 505. Then, if the responsescreen is the same as the error screen (Yes in Step 508), theaccessibility determining unit 150 determines that the object at thelink destination of the hyperlink extracted in Step 501 cannot beaccessed (the user does not have the right of access thereto). Then, thedisplay controlling unit 180 displays that the user does not have theright of access to the object at the link destination of the hyperlinkincluded in the display target file, onto the display image based on thedisplay target file displayed on the display unit 190 (Step 509).

If the response screen is not the same as the error screen (No in Step508), the accessibility determining unit 150 determines that the objectat the link destination of the hyperlink extracted in Step 501 can beaccessed (the user has the right of access thereto). Then, the displaycontrolling unit 180 displays information indicating that the user hasthe right of access to the object at the link destination of thehyperlink included in the display target file, onto the display imagebased on the display target file displayed on the display unit 190 (Step510).

Note that, in the operation illustrated in FIG. 5, the hyperlink isextracted at a predetermined timing (see Step 501), and the object atthe link destination of the extracted hyperlink is acquired (see Step502). Here, before the object at the link destination is acquired, itmay be examined whether or not the URL of the link destination of theextracted hyperlink is registered in the authentication information DB160. Then, if the URL of the link destination is registered in theauthentication information DB 160, it may be examined how many days andhours have elapsed from the previous determination of the accessibilityof the URL to the present. If the elapsed days and hours exceed a presetthreshold, the processing in Step 502 and the subsequent steps may beperformed. In this way, a complicated process of extracting a link eachtime can be avoided for a hyperlink set to frequently displayed files.

Authentication Screen Retrieving Process:

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of the authentication screenretrieving process performed by the authentication screen retrievingunit 140, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Inthe authentication screen retrieving process illustrated in Step 503 ofFIG. 5, the authentication screen retrieving unit 140 first retrieves aFORM tag from the source code of the object acquired in Step 502 of FIG.5 (Step 601). If the FORM tag exists (Yes in Step 602), theauthentication screen retrieving unit 140 then examines whether or notan INPUT tag whose type attribute is “password” exists in the sourcecode. If the INPUT tag whose type attribute is “password” exists (Yes inStep 603), the authentication screen retrieving unit 140 then examineswhether or not an INPUT tag whose type attribute is “submit” exists.

If the INPUT tag whose type attribute is “submit” exists (Yes in Step604), the authentication screen retrieving unit 140 then examineswhether or not an INPUT tag whose type attribute is other than“password” and “submit” exists. If the INPUT tag exists (Yes in Step605), the authentication screen retrieving unit 140 recognizes the INPUTtag detected in Step 605, as an ID entry field (Step 606). Theauthentication screen retrieving unit 140 then determines that theobject acquired in Step 502 of FIG. 5 includes the authentication screen(Step 607).

In any of the cases where the FORM tag does not exist in the source codeof the object acquired in Step 502 of FIG. 5 (No in Step 602), where theINPUT tag whose type attribute is “password” does not exist (No in Step603), where the INPUT tag whose type attribute is “submit” does notexist (No in Step 604), and where the INPUT tag whose type attribute isother than “password” and “submit” does not exist (No in Step 605), theauthentication screen retrieving unit 140 determines that the objectacquired in Step 502 of FIG. 5 does not include the authenticationscreen (Step 608). Note that any of the determinations in Step 603 toStep 605 in the process illustrated in FIG. 6 may be made earlier, andthe order of the determinations is not limited to the order illustratedin FIG. 6.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the source code of theobject, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. Asource code 700 illustrated in FIG. 7 includes: a FORM tag 701; an INPUTtag 702 whose type attribute is “password”; an INPUT tag 703 whose typeattribute is “submit”; and an INPUT tag 704 whose type attribute isother than “password” and “submit”. Accordingly, it is determined thatthe object based on the source code illustrated in FIG. 7 includes anauthentication screen. Note that the type attribute of the INPUT tag 704illustrated in FIG. 7 is “email”.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the object that isbased on the source code illustrated in FIG. 7 and includes theauthentication screen, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. In an object 800 illustrated in FIG. 8, a region 810indicated by a broken line is an authentication screen set on the basisof the FORM tag 701 in the source code illustrated in FIG. 7. Then, aninput form 811 is an input form for inputting a password, which is seton the basis of the INPUT tag 702. Moreover, a button object 812 is asubmit button set on the basis of the INPUT tag 703. Moreover, an inputform 813 is an input form for inputting an ID, which is set on the basisof the INPUT tag 704.

Access Trial Process:

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of the access trial processperformed by the accessibility determining unit 150, in accordance withan embodiment of the present disclosure. In the access trial processillustrated in Step 506 of FIG. 5, the accessibility determining unit150 first examines whether or not a record corresponding to the linkdestination of the hyperlink extracted in Step 501 of FIG. 5 isregistered in the authentication information DB 160 (Step 901).Specifically, the accessibility determining unit 150 retrieves a recordin which the same URL as the URL of the link destination is registered,from the authentication information DB 160.

If the record corresponding to the link destination of the hyperlink isregistered in the authentication information DB 160 (Yes in Step 901),the accessibility determining unit 150 then inputs the password of therecord corresponding to the link destination read out of theauthentication information DB 160, to the password entry field (forexample, the input form 811 in FIG. 8) on the authentication screenretrieved by the authentication screen retrieving unit 140 (Step 904).The accessibility determining unit 150 further inputs the ID of therecord corresponding to the link destination read out of theauthentication information DB 160, to the ID entry field (for example,the input form 813 in FIG. 8) on the authentication screen retrieved bythe authentication screen retrieving unit 140 (Step 905). Then, with theuse of a function provided to the submit button (for example, the buttonobject 812 in FIG. 8) on the authentication screen retrieved by theauthentication screen retrieving unit 140, the accessibility determiningunit 150 transmits data for requesting the object at the linkdestination, together with the pieces of authentication informationinputted in Steps 904 and 905 (Step 906).

If the record corresponding to the link destination of the hyperlink isnot registered in the authentication information DB 160 (No in Step901), the accessibility determining unit 150 then examines whether ornot a record in which a URL similar to the URL of the link destination(similar network position information) is registered exists among therecords registered in the authentication information DB 160 (Step 902).If the record in which a URL similar to the URL of the link destinationis registered exists, the accessibility determining unit 150 selects therecord (Step 903). Then, the accessibility determining unit 150 inputsthe password and the ID of the selected record to the authenticationscreen, and transmits data for requesting the object at the linkdestination (Steps 904 to 906).

If it is determined in Step 902 that the record in which a URL similarto the URL of the link destination is registered does not exist,authentication information for performing an authentication operation isnot specified. Consequently, the accessibility determining unit 150transmits data for requesting the object at the link destination,without inputting a password and an ID to the authentication screen(Step 906). In this case, the same screen as the error screen acquiredin Step 505 of FIG. 5 is acquired. Hence, the accessibility determiningunit 150 determines, in Step 508 of FIG. 5, that the response screen isthe same as the error screen, and the display controlling unit 180displays the information indicating that the user does not have theright of access, onto the display unit 190.

Whether or not URLs are similar to each other can be determined by, forexample, determining the degrees of similarity of character strings onthe basis of: whether or not domains or hosts respectively constitutingthe URLs are the same as each other; or at what proportion the characterstring constituting each URL includes the same characters. Moreover, anyof the input processes in Step 904 and Step 905 in the processillustrated in FIG. 9 may be performed earlier, and the order of theinput processes is not limited to the order illustrated in FIG. 9.

If any of the same URL as the URL of the link destination and a URLsimilar thereto is not registered in the authentication information DB160, this means that the object at the link destination has not beenaccessed until then. Accordingly, at the time of actual access to theobject at the link destination, the user may be able to access theobject by manually inputting a password and an ID. In view of this, ifit is determined in Step 902 that the record in which a URL similar tothe URL of the link destination is registered does not exist, thedisplay controlling unit 180 may not display the accessibility of thehyperlink included in the display target file displayed on the displayunit 190, instead of displaying the information indicating that the userdoes not have the right of access as described above. Alternatively, insuch a case, the display controlling unit 180 may display informationindicating that the accessibility is unknown for the hyperlink includedin the display target file displayed on the display unit 190. In thecase of displaying the information indicating that the accessibility isunknown, a message to the effect that the accessibility is unknown maybe displayed as the display example illustrated in FIG. 3, and thehyperlink portion may be displayed in a display mode set for indicatingthat the accessibility is unknown, as the display example illustrated inFIG. 4.

Moreover, in some embodiments, in the case where an authenticationoperation is performed using the password and the ID associated with theURL of the similar network position information acquired in Step 903 ofFIG. 9, the authentication operation in this case is not based on theauthentication information directly set to the object at the linkdestination of the hyperlink. Accordingly, even if it is determined inStep 508 of FIG. 5 that the object that is acquired in Step 507 of FIG.5 in response to this authentication operation is the same as the errorscreen, at the time of actual access to the object at the linkdestination, the user may be able to access the object by manuallyinputting the password and the ID directly set to the object at the linkdestination. In view of this, in the case where an authenticationoperation is performed using the password and the ID acquired in Step903 and where it is determined in Step 508 of FIG. 5 that the responsescreen is the same as the error screen, the display controlling unit 180may indicate that the accessibility is unknown for the hyperlinkincluded in the display target file displayed on the display unit 190,similarly to the above.

Creating the Authentication Information Database:

In some embodiments, authentication information is registered in theauthentication information DB 160 by performing a registration operationby the user of the file displaying apparatus 100 as well as byautomatically registering, when the user performs an authenticationoperation on the authentication screen, information inputted in theauthentication operation.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a process performed in thecase where the authentication information is automatically registered inthe authentication information DB 160 in response to the authenticationoperation by the user, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. Upon reception of an input operation by the user (Step1001), the file displaying apparatus 100 determines whether or not thereceived input is an input to the authentication screen (Step 1002).Specifically, for example, as described with reference to FIG. 6, thefile displaying apparatus 100 examines whether or not the source code ofthe object displayed on the display unit 190 includes a predeterminedFORM tag and a predetermined INPUT tag, and thus can determine whetheror not the input target object includes the authentication screen. Then,if the input target object includes the authentication screen, the filedisplaying apparatus 100 examines whether or not the field to which theuser inputs information through the input operation is any of inputforms (for example, the input forms 811 and 813 illustrated in FIG. 8)based on INPUT tags for inputting a password and an ID, and thus candetermine whether or not the received input operation is an inputoperation of the authentication information.

If the received input is an input to the authentication screen, the filedisplaying apparatus 100 then extracts the received authenticationinformation (Step 1003). Here, the file displaying apparatus 100extracts the password and the ID in accordance with the input forms towhich the user inputs information. The file displaying apparatus 100then examines whether or not the URL of the access request destinationwhen the authentication screen is acquired is registered in theauthentication information DB 160 (Step 1004). Then, if the URL of theaccess request destination is not registered in the authenticationinformation DB 160, the file displaying apparatus 100 registers theauthentication information (the password and the ID) extracted in Step1003 and the URL of the access request destination into theauthentication information DB 160 (Step 1005). The file displayingapparatus 100 also registers registration date and time (determinationdate and time) into the record in which the authentication informationand the URL are newly registered.

If the URL of the access request destination is registered in theauthentication information DB 160, the file displaying apparatus 100then examines whether or not the authentication information extracted inStep 1003 is the same as the authentication information registered inthe corresponding record in the authentication information DB 160 (Step1006). Then, if the two pieces of authentication information are thesame as each other, the file displaying apparatus 100 updates only thedetermination date and time in the corresponding record (Step 1007). Onthe other hand, if the two pieces of authentication information are notthe same as each other, the file displaying apparatus 100 updates theauthentication information and the determination date and time in thecorresponding record (Step 1008).

Hardware Configuration Example:

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example forconfiguring the file displaying apparatus 100, in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure. Description is given here of thecase where the hardware configuration example is applied to a computer.The computer illustrated in FIG. 11 includes a central processing unit(CPU) 10 a as arithmetic means and a memory 10 c as main storage means.The computer illustrated in FIG. 11 further includes, as externaldevices, a magnetic disk device (hard disk drive (HDD)) 10 g, a networkinterface 10 f, a display mechanism 10 d including a display device, anaudio mechanism 10 h, and an input device 10 i such as a keyboard and amouse.

In the configuration example illustrated in FIG. 11, the memory 10 c andthe display mechanism 10 d are connected to the CPU 10 a through asystem controller 10 b. Moreover, the network interface 10 f, themagnetic disk device 10 g, the audio mechanism 10 h, and the inputdevice 10 i are connected to the system controller 10 b through an I/Ocontroller 10 e. These components are connected by various buses such asa system bus and an input/output bus.

Note that FIG. 11 illustrates, as a mere example, the hardwareconfiguration of the computer to which an embodiment is applied. Thepresent disclosure can be widely applied to information processingapparatuses each having a function of: acquiring and displaying ahyperlinked file, such as a web page and an e-mail message; andaccessing an object at a link destination of the hyperlink. Hence, theimplementation of the present disclosure is not limited to only theconfiguration illustrated in FIG. 11.

In FIG. 11, an OS program and an application program are stored in themagnetic disk device 10 g. Then, these programs are loaded onto thememory 10 c, and are executed by the CPU 10 a, whereby the respectivefunctions of the file acquiring unit 120, the link extracting unit 130,the authentication screen retrieving unit 140, the accessibilitydetermining unit 150, and the display controlling unit 180 included inthe file displaying apparatus 100 according to the present disclosureare achieved. Moreover, the authentication information DB 160 and theerror screen storing unit 170 are achieved by storage means such as thememory 10 c and the magnetic disk device 10 g. Moreover, the displayunit 190 is achieved by the display mechanism 10 d, and the transmittingand receiving unit 110 is achieved by the network interface 10 f.Moreover, the user operates the input device 10 i to input: a commandfor acquiring a display target file; a request for access to an objectat a link destination of a hyperlink; authentication information to theauthentication screen; and the like.

While the present disclosure has been described above with respect tothe embodiment, the present disclosure is not limited to theabove-mentioned specific configurations, and any embodiment obtained byvariously changing or improving the above-mentioned embodiment is alsoincluded in a technique scope of the present disclosure.

Various aspects of the present disclosure are not to be construed asbeing transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

LIST OF REFERENCES

-   100 file displaying apparatus-   110 transmitting and receiving unit-   120 file acquiring unit-   130 link extracting unit-   140 authentication screen retrieving unit-   150 accessibility determining unit-   160 authentication information database (DB)-   170 error screen storing unit-   180 display controlling unit-   190 display unit

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for displaying an accessibility of ahyperlinked file, the method comprising: extracting a hyperlink from atarget file, wherein the hyperlink references a resource displayable ona display apparatus, wherein the hyperlink is extracted from the targetfile in response to determining that a predetermined duration of timehas lapsed since a previous determination of the accessibility of theresource, wherein extracting a hyperlink from a target file furthercomprises: retrieving a FORM tag from a source code of the resource;determining the source code of the resource comprises a first INPUT taghaving a first attribute comprising a password attribute; determiningthe source code of the resource comprises a second INPUT tag having asecond attribute comprising a submit attribute; determining the sourcecode of the resource comprises a third INPUT tag having a thirdattribute that is not a password attribute and not a submit attribute;and determining the hyperlink includes an authentication screen;attempting to acquire the resource by performing a first authenticationoperation configured to fail and, in response, receiving a first object,wherein the first authentication operation configured to fail comprisesthe first authentication operation configured to generate an errorscreen, wherein the first object comprises a first screenshot of theerror screen, wherein the first authentication operation includesinputting into an authentication screen a character string that includescharacters that are not permitted to be used as the authenticationinformation; acquiring a second object by performing a secondauthentication operation using pre-determined authenticationinformation, wherein the second object comprises a second screen shot ofa screen resulting from the second authentication operation, wherein thepre-determined authentication information is associated with networkposition information of the resource, and wherein the secondauthentication operation is based, at least in part, on the networkposition information, wherein the pre-determined authenticationinformation comprises a user identifier, a password, a determinationdate, and a determination time for the network position information,wherein the determination date indicates a date the secondauthentication operation was previously performed, and wherein thedetermination time indicates a time that the second authenticationoperation was performed on the determination date; comparing the firstobject and the second object to determine if the first object is thesame as the second object, wherein comparing the first object and thesecond object comprises comparing the first screen shot to the secondscreen shot; and presenting, via the display apparatus, informationindicating the accessibility of the resource, wherein the information isbased, at least in part, on the comparison between the first object andthe second object and further based, at least in part, on the targetfile.